stomach rolled again. She was beautiful, as he remembered. Hair the color of treacle, pale blue eyes, porcelain skin and soft, even features. The first time Doug had introduced her to him, Tanner’s breath had been sucked from his chest. The second time he was better prepared—he managed a quick visit while Doug was home on leave and had kept his distance from her. And this time...this time he had his head screwed on right. He wasn’t in Crystal Point to lust over his dead brother’s girlfriend.
History would not repeat itself. Not ever again.
“Tanner?”
She said his name in that soft, breathless way and a familiar jolt of awareness rushed through his blood. He finally drew in some air and spoke. “Hello, Cassandra.”
Her gaze narrowed as a huge dog moved around her legs and sniffed the air. The animal eyed him suspiciously and lifted his ears in alert mode. She certainly looked as though she had all the protection she needed. “You’re here...”
“You got my email?”
“Ah...yes...but I wasn’t expecting you until next week.”
“I got an earlier flight,” he explained and pressed down the jolt of pain contracting his thigh. “I’m sorry if I startled you. I probably should have called first.”
She looked flustered and a little put out, and guilt twitched Tanner behind his shoulder blades. He should have waited until morning. Or he should have let the lawyers handle it.
“No, it’s fine,” she said and nodded. “You can come inside.”
When she opened the screen and stepped back Tanner moved through the doorway. She closed both doors behind him and suggested they go into the living room. The dog trailed her and Tanner hung back for a moment. He finally followed her down the hall and remained by the doorway when she entered the front room.
Tanner watched her. She looked cautious. On edge. Out of sorts.
Suspicious.
The room had altered a little since the last time he’d been in it. There was some new furniture, new rug, different paintings on the walls. There was a fireplace with one of those fake heaters and a photo on the mantel caught his attention. Doug. In uniform. The face seemed as recognizable as it did unfamiliar. When he was young he’d worshipped Doug.
But things had a way of changing.
“That’s quite an animal you have there,” he said.
“Mouse,” she replied and ushered the dog to sit on a rug near the fireplace. The animal gave Tanner a wary once-over before curling on the mat.
“Mouse?”
She smiled a little. “The idea was to make him seem less intimidating.”
When the dog was settled, Tanner crossed the threshold. “How are you?”
She nodded. “Fine.”
“And the—your son?”
“Oliver,” she said, as though he didn’t know the child’s name. “He’s asleep.”
He took a few steps and noticed how her gaze fell to his uneven gait. She knew about the accident that had laid him up in hospital for over a month. It was the reason he hadn’t made it to Doug’s funeral.
“And are you well?” he asked and moved behind the heavy sofa.
“I said I was.” She looked him over. “More the point, how are you?”
Tanner tapped his thigh. “Better. Good as new.”
Her brows came up. “Really?”
He shrugged. “Maybe not exactly like new. But I’m getting there.”
“I should have called,” she said quietly. “But after Doug...you know...and the baby came...and by then I didn’t have time to think about anything but Oliver.”
He understood. And he hadn’t expected her to call. They weren’t friends. They weren’t anything. She was Doug’s woman. The mother of his brother’s child. It didn’t matter that her blue eyes and soft smile invaded his dreams. Wanting her was pointless. He’d never act on it, never give in to it. Never put himself through the inevitable humiliation of her rejection. Staying in South Dakota and living his life far away from her and Doug had been the sensible option.
“It’s okay, Cassandra. You don’t have to—”
“Cassie,” she said, correcting him. “No one calls me Cassandra.”
Tanner lingered over the thought. He’d always called her that. Funny how he’d never picked up that she didn’t like it. “All right...Cassie.”
She smiled a little and sat on the sofa. “Would you like coffee? Tea?”
“No, thank you.”
“You can sit down if you want.”
He nodded and moved farther into the room. She watched him intently as he eased into the opposite chair and stretched out his left leg. She couldn’t have missed the way he favored the one side when he walked.
“Are you in pain?” she asked.
Tanner shrugged. “It was a long trip.”
The suspicion in her gaze didn’t abate. “You said in your email that you wanted to talk. So, what did you want to talk about?”
In normal circumstances it might not have sounded like a fraught, loaded question. But nothing about the situation was normal. And they both knew it.
“Don’t look so wary, Cassie. I would have been here eight months ago if it hadn’t been for the accident. I finally got the all clear to travel and came as soon as I could.”
“For what?” she asked quietly, but she was clearly on edge. “Doug’s dead. Anything that needs to be sorted could be done through lawyers.”
Silence stretched between them like frayed elastic. She doesn’t want me here. He ignored her mention of lawyers. There was time to get to all of that. “You’re right,” he said, consciously keeping his voice light. “Doug is gone. But his son is very much alive.”
Her pale eyes widened. “You came to see Oliver?”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
Tanner sucked in a heavy breath. “Because he’s the only family that I have.”
* * *
Family.
Cassie almost choked out a sob the way he said the word. She longed for Oliver to have a family. But this man was a stranger. Unknown. Someone she’d met a couple of times and who had always managed to unnerve her even though they’d barely spoken. She wasn’t sure why, but knew it wasn’t simply a reaction to his handsome face. There was something about
